Night Road(34)



It took a Herculean effort to push him away. “Don’t, Zach…”

He rolled away from her and lay there. She felt the loss of his touch as a physical pain, and she instantly regretted her move. “I’m sorry, Zach. It’s just…”

“There you are,” Mia said, stumbling toward them. In the moonlight, Lexi could see how glassy eyed Mia was now, almost as if she’d been crying. And she was unsteady on her feet. Her shirt was buttoned incorrectly; the way it hung on her thin frame made her look strangely bent. She plopped down beside Lexi.

Lexi tried to rehook her bra without anyone noticing.

Zach sat up, drew his knees in, and stared out at the black Sound. After a long silence, he said quietly, “Mia? I don’t want to leave Lexi.”

“We don’t have to go,” Mia said, leaning against Lexi. She looked at her watch. “It’s not one yet.”

“In August,” Zach said. He looked to her for support, but she could offer none. She was suspended, in a dangerous position between these two, both of whom she loved. “Couldn’t we all go to UW together?”

“I might not be able to go to the U,” Lexi said to him. “It’s so expensive. I might have to start at Seattle CC.”

“We could do that, too,” Zach said. “It would save Mom and Dad a ton of money.”

Mia looked at her brother. “Now you don’t want to go to USC with me?”

“I don’t want to leave Lex,” he said quietly.

Mia looked away, stared out at the water. “Oh,” was all she said, but in that little half word, Lexi heard an ocean of disappointment.

They all knew Mia needed Zach at college with her.

Tyler stumbled over to where they were and collapsed into the sand. “Hey, Mia,” he said drunkenly, reaching for her. “I missed you.”

“Shit,” Zach said. “He’s drunk.”

Tyler laughed. “Oh, yeah. Whoa. I can’t drive, that’s for sure.”

Lexi got to her feet and looked at the party. Kids were sprawled everywhere. The few who were still standing staggered around. “What are we going to do?” she said, starting to panic. “We don’t want your mom to know we were drinking…”

“Shit,” Zach said again, running a hand through his hair.

“Madre said we could call anytime,” Mia said, trying to get Tyler to his feet. “No questions asked, she said. No repercussions.”

Zach looked at Lexi.

“We don’t have any choice,” she said. This was bad.

He cursed again and made the call. “Hey, Mom,” he said, straightening, trying to sound sober and failing. “Yeah. I know. Sorry. But … we need you to pick us up … yeah … Tyler … I know … thanks.” He closed the phone and looked at them. “She sounded pissed.”

“It’s one in the morning,” Lexi said. If only she hadn’t had that beer. She could have driven them home and spared them all what was coming.

They made their way back to the house, where kids were still huddled around the fire. All around, on the grass, more kids were making out, passed out.

In the driveway, they stood by Tyler’s SUV. It seemed to take forever, but finally a pair of headlights appeared on the rise, turned toward them, and grew brighter.

The big black Escalade parked. Jude stepped out of the driver’s seat and came around to them. She was wearing a heavy, floor-length cashmere robe over pajamas. Without makeup, she looked pale and tired. And pissed off. Her gaze narrowed as she looked them over. Lexi had no doubt that she saw it all: Mia’s glassy eyes and misbuttoned shirt, Zach’s unsteady stance, Tyler’s droopy eyes.

Lexi couldn’t make eye contact she was so embarrassed.

“Get in,” Jude said with a sigh. “Put on your seatbelts.”

The drive home was utterly silent. When they were all in the entryway, Jude said, “Put Tyler in the media room. He can sleep on the sofa. Now I’m going to bed.” On that, she turned her back on them and walked down the hall. At her bedroom door, she paused, turned back. “Good job for calling,” she said tiredly, and then she went into her room and closed the door.

Mia immediately giggled. Zach shushed her, and they all climbed the stairs to the second floor. Tyler fell a couple of times, yelling out curses. By the time they got him onto the sofa, he was already asleep.

At Mia’s bedroom door, Zach kissed Lexi until she couldn’t think straight, and then left her.

She and Mia crawled into the big king-sized bed. Moonlight spilled through the window, illuminating them.

“Your mom looked pretty pissed tonight,” Lexi said.

“Don’t worry about it. We did the right thing. She wouldn’t want us driving.”

Lexi lay back into the pile of soft pillows, staring up at the dark, peaked ceiling. “About what Zach said … about school…” She didn’t know how to follow that up. The dream was too sharp to handle.

“The thing is…” Mia sighed. “I want to go to USC. I actually dream about it. You know? But I’m afraid to go without Zach. I wish I were stronger … but I’m not. I need him with me.”

“I know.”

Mia rolled onto her side and looked at Lexi. “I have a secret. About Tyler and me.” She paused. “We did it.”

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